Under the Apple Tree
by AcrossFandoms
Summary: A possible ending to hannah . jpg's "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree."


_Author's Note:_ Firstly, I'm calling this an AU because I only know the gist of what takes places in the Marvel's Universe. So, I'm bound to mess details up.

An alternate ending for 's _Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree_. It's a really good story, and it inspired this idea. So, please read that before reading this as I'll be referring to that story. Takes place after _Endgame._

* * *

Bucky finally had time to focus his energies on activities that didn't include saving the world or fighting his alter-ego. All he was trying to do now was find his new normal after the final showdown with Thanos. And he was trying to not think about how time travel can really create problems (that was how Thanos was able to make a second appearance.) Anyways, now since he was not so busy, he decided to find out what happened to his family amid the chaos. He wanted to come to terms to everything from his past. He said goodbye to Steve, accepted his history with HYDRA, and come to terms with the present.

It took months for him to dig up records of his family. And considering that the Snap had erased half of humanity (and thereby a good deal of history), that was to be expected. His parents had passed away in the '70's after a good long life. Becky had died in the early 2000's of cancer. Ruth and Mary were still alive, though. They lived together at an assisted living center in New Jersey.

He didn't know how to best approach them after not seeing them in years. After much deliberation and discussion with his remaining friends, he decided to call them up. Eventually, he arranged a time to meet them.

He was surprised to find his sisters lived in such a nice facility. He expected them to be in a smallish, crowded room. Instead, he found a spacious, fully furnished two bedroom apartment, complete with a kitchenette. They even had a small, private garden with a gate leading to the facility grounds.

After seating their brother at the table with a cup of tea, Mary began, "You look almost exactly as I remember."

He smiled roguishly, "Should I say the same of you?" Sure, his sisters had white hair and wrinkled skin, but the eyes were the same. Still sparkling and full of life.

"Jimbo, you know very well it would be a falsehood," declared Ruth. "We've aged."

"In a good way," he replied with a wink.

"Whatever happened to you, you still are that teasing brother we've missed," said Mary. "When we heard the news that you were MIA, Suzie wasn't quite the same. She lost some of her spirit."

"Suzie?" he asked. He didn't remember a girl by that name.

The sisters exchanged a look. Ruth quietly asked with a slight frown, "What happened? After all we've experienced, nothing should surprise us."

He tried to avoid telling them, but his sisters' persistence won out. Eventually he gave them the gist of the last seventy years of his life. He even showed them his metal arm. He concluded, "I'm ashamed of what I did as the Winter Soldier, but I've accepted it. I can't undo it, but I've tried to make amends." A few moments of silence rested over the siblings.

"If this HYDRA messed with your memories," Mary observed, "then they could have irrevocably erased certain memories." She paused. "You don't remember Suzie at all?"

Bucky shook his head. Now that Mary mentioned the name, he began to feel like he was missing something very important. Suzie. What did it stand for? What did it mean to him?

Ruth practically whispered, "Suzie was your fiancée."

Mary rose and ambled to her bedroom, returning with a shoebox. When she opened it, the first things visible were seven postcards. She began laying out the items on the table. Next came several pictures, letters, and a few random items. She placed a black and white photograph in front of him.

The first thing he saw was a joyful spirit waiting to come out of its confines in her sparkling eyes. Ruth then showed him another picture. She was standing at a beach, laughing with three other people. He recognized himself, Steve, and Becky. Then came another photo of just the two of them. He was in his uniform, and she was in a Sunday dress. The more he gazed at this Suzie, the more he felt a tug in his heart and mind. Nothing like that has happened when he tried dating other women.

"Is she still alive?" he whispered.

Ruth answered, "She sends us a post card every ten years." She gestured to the postcards. "She only tells us that she doing fine, wishes she could be with us, and the standard things."

"We haven't seen her in seventy years," Mary added. "Last we saw her was in 1949. She told us that we reminded her too much of you, and that she couldn't handle it. But we think there's another reason. She would've come back, sooner or later."

"Tell me more about Suzie. Maybe I'd remember her more if you told me more about her," he said.

They told her as much as they remembered. Some of their stories stirred something in his mind, but not enough to unlock doors. Eventually, he had to go. His sisters let him take the postcards, some letters, and a couple of pictures (He left some things for them to remember her by). He bade his sisters a fond farewell, promising to visit them soon.

He returned to his hotel room in silence. He read her letters and the postcards. Then he gazed at her picture, trying to remember something. Before bedding down, he placed the items in an envelope. When he dreamt that night, he saw sparkling eyes and curly hair beneath a boyish cap. A jazzy tune played in the background.

Bucky brought back the Suzie File, as he called it, to the base. He recounted his visit to Sam while Sam peered through the pictures and postcards.

"You do realize that Suzie is short for Susanna," Sam remarked.

Bucky nodded, "Yeah, her name is Susanna Dickson. My sisters haven't a clue where she is."

Sam silent examined the postcards more closely. Finally, he said thoughtfully with a furrowed brow, "You know, most people sends postcards from where they are to give the recipients a peek at where they are."

Bucky's eyes brightened, he added quickly, "So the postcards might tell me where she is or have been! Ruth told me she sends a postcard every ten years, so she might still be at the location of the last postcard." He practically snatched the postcard dated from 2010 out of Sam's hands. He flipped the card to the photo. On it was a picture of a city with a body of water in the background. "Seattle, Washington" stood out in bold, cursive letters..

"Well, there we have it!" Sam exclaimed. "There's another thing I noticed." He gestured towards the handwriting. "Her handwriting hasn't changed, so do you think she changed physically as well?"

Bucky carefully examined the handwriting and gazed at her picture. Then he called, "FRIDAY, can you face match the person in this picture to anybody in Seattle, Washington?"

The A.I. announced, "Running scans." A second later, he added, "One match found. A Susan Buchannan. Do you want me to pull up her address?"

"If you can, yes," responded Bucky. He mumbled, "This is almost too easy."

Armed with the information the AI (which included her workplace, street address, and a phone number) provided him with, Bucky took the next available flight to Seattle. He dozed off. He dreamed that he was dancing a jive with her. Upbeat music filled the room.

_Don't give out with those lips of yours to anyone else but e_

_Anyone else but me, anyone else but me_

_No! No! No!_

_Watch the girls on the foreign shores, you'll have to report to me _

_When you come marchin' home_

"_You hear that, Jim?" a laughing voice asked. "No lips but mine. No matter how pretty the girls are wherever you go."_

The flight attendant announced the plane's arrival, startling Bucky out his dream. He sighed. Would he ever remember it all? He gazed outside the window, watching the glittering bay and the bustling city beneath him.

After checking into a hotel and settling in his room, he reexamined the Suzie File. She worked at a local library and had an apartment close by. According to some new pictures FRIDAY found, she had straight brown hair and brown eyes. Other than that, she looked no different from when she did seventy years ago. He shook his head. How was that even possible? Considering she was still in the U.S., she wasn't a Russian experiment. He looked at the clock. It was too late to go to the library, but who said he couldn't stop by her apartment.

He left the hotel and hailed a cab. On the way, he ordered and picked up some Chinese food. Then he arrived at her place as dusk became night. The neighborhood felt safe enough. The apartment complex wasn't the nicest, but it was certainly decent. He wondered if he should vault over the fence or try hacking the gate code. He didn't have to wait long. A car drove up, and the gate opened. Before the gate closed, he dashed through. Soon, he found her apartment and knocked on the door before he chickened out.

A female voice called, "Who is it?"

Bucky thought quickly before answering, "James Barnes."

There was silence on the other end. She answered quietly, "He went missing in World War II over seventy years ago. I ask again, who are you?"

Bucky sighed, "Sweetheart, I already told you."

"Where did we meet?" she asked.

Startled by her sudden switch in tactics, he responded, "Marcie's club. You were playing the piano while Archie was on his trumpet."

He stopped, startled that he remembered a few more details about their relationship. He saw her playing the piano at that smoky room. Sweat glinted on her forehead and a curl determinedly peeking from beneath the cap. Everything started coming back to him.

The door cracked open, shocking him out his memories, again. Cautious brown eyes gazed at him. She opened the door wider, gasping and turning very pale. The world froze around them. It was just the two of them.

Without another word, Bucky wrapped his Susie in his arms as she began to cry. Soon, he couldn't hold back his own overwhelming emotions. There was nothing to say.

Eventually, she ushered him inside and seated him on a couch, asking tremulously, "How are you still alive?" She seated herself on the other side of the couch.

He chuckled grimly, "Sweetheart, it's not a pretty story. But a question for a question. I'd like to know how you are still alive."

She smiled slightly, "Fine. You first."

He said, "Well, if you put it that way, after I was first captured by HYDRA, they did some experiments on me that must have made me physically sturdier. When I fell from the train, I should've died. I didn't, and HYRDA found me. They gave me a metal arm and trained me for assassin work. During that time, they brainwashed me and erased my memories so I'd obey orders without question. In between missions, they froze me to prevent me from aging. In the last ten years, I re-met Steve and his new friends and clashed with them a bit. Even when I started getting my mind under control, it was still difficult. Eventually, I went to Wakanda and while there, they healed me. I didn't remember you at all until I visited Ruth and Mary. That's the important parts."

She nodded, "There's a lot you aren't telling me, but I bet I can figure that out."

"Sure you would," he smiled. "That saves my breath. Now, your turn."

She laughed, "Oh, it's nothing very exciting. I left New York in May 1949 without intent to return. I was driving through the night when a storm arose. My car went out of control. I woke up the next morning next to a creek. I pulled out my suitcase from the trunk and walked to the nearest town. I never thought much about it until about fifteen years later when a policeman pulled me over. I was nearing my forties, but I hardly looked like it. The policeman took my driver's license and told me to pick it up the next day at the station. Realizing that they could turn me into a lab right, I ran. Had a few narrow escapes. Every ten years, I move to avoid suspicion."

Bucky stared at her, asking with disbelief, "So you were probably struck by lightning, revived, and hadn't aged since?"

She just shrugged, "It could have been worse."

Then he suddenly remembered, "Oh, I brought Chinese, but it's probably cold by now."

They reheated the food and began talk about the lighter topics. Susie talked a bit more since her life, though interesting, was not as gruesome as his own. Financially, she was probably well off since she worked a lot and spent thriftily. She still played the piano, but she hadn't touched an organ in ages. She studied a lot of philosophy, history, and even some engineering. All her education came through reading books at libraries since she felt it too risky to enroll in a university. When the internet and the newfangled electronics came out, she learned to use them. As technology developed, she kept up. She even learned to hack, through which she learned of Steve's survival and other guarded Intel (though how Stark didn't catch her, he would never know.)

Bucky shook his head, hardly believing how Susie made the best of her life. He then caught sight of a ring on Susie's hand. He interrupted her, "You're still wearing my ring."

"It's rude to interrupt," she said casually. "But of course, I've never taken it off. It was either on my finger or around my neck."

He kissed her. Eventually, the food ended up on the coffee table, and she was on his lap. He drew her as close as he dared with his right hand, cupping her face with his left. She gasped and drew back at his touch. She took his metal hand in hers and examined it before kissing it and then returning her attention to him.

"I suppose I forgot to mention that," he whispered, afraid that she'd withdraw completely.

Susie just laughed breathily, "Yes, but it doesn't matter." She launched into another kiss.

They married a month later in a private ceremony in Wakanda attended by Ruth, Mary, Steve, and a few of Bucky's trusted friends. While there, they sought Shuri and her team's help in starting up Susie's aging process again.

Shuri remarked, "Well, most people want to stay young, but you both want to grow old!"

"We've lived long enough," they said. "We're ready to live a normal life."

And that's what happened. They lived in U.S. on a farm for much of their marriage, raised their three children (all of whom became involved in preserving the world in some way), and retired in Wakanda. Retirement in Wakanda meant uninterrupted farming and just a peaceful life with his wife.

* * *

If you go to Wakanda today, residents will encourage you to visit the White Wolf Memorial. The Memorial sits on the White Wolf Farm, which one of the Barnes descendants operates. You ask a farm hand where the Memorial is. He points to a hill overlooking the farm. You climb up, expecting a fine marble monument, but all you find is a stone bench beneath a huge apple tree. But then you see an inscription on the bench that reads _James and Susanna Barnes._ At first, the apple tree and bench doesn't make sense. Why would such a great hero want so simple a memorial/tombstone? Then you hear light footsteps behind you. You turn, facing a young girl.

"Why this?" you ask, gesturing to the tree and bench.

"Because it means something," she answered simply. "Would you like to stay for dinner?"

You follow the child down to the house, leaving the renowned warrior and his beloved to rest under the apple tree.

* * *

_Author's Note:_ And there you have it! I did use some ideas from _The Age of Adaline, _if you haven't noticed. Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this.


End file.
